


in my arms again

by emrys (livingshitpost)



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Age Difference, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Comfort No Hurt, Crying, Español | Spanish, Family, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, I Made Myself Cry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loss of Parent(s), Love, No Incest, Not Beta Read, Not Really Character Death, Parent Death, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Past Character Death, i'm so fucking soft why did i cry writing this........, just some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 14:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18701542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys
Summary: Coco is so used to being a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, that for a moment, she forgets that she's also a daughter.





	in my arms again

It takes a moment for her to realize what she's said, and by that point, the rest of the table has all but gone silent. He laughs it off, of course, because he's Héctor, and he'll laugh anything off, but the tension is clear in the way his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. It sits uncomfortably in the pit where her stomach should be, and he can see it.

When the evening is over, and everyone's retreated to their rooms, he makes his way quietly into the kitchen. His daughter is sitting at the table. The cup of coffee in her hands is untouched, no longer steaming.

"Coco?"

She turns to look at him. "Hey," she says softly. "What are you doing up?"

He shrugs. "Couldn't sleep," he says, and it's not a lie. Not entirely. (He hadn't exactly been trying.) "What about you?"

She returns his shrug, looking back down at her coffee. There's a strange sort of sadness in her eyes.

He pulls out a chair and sits down, diagonally from his daughter, and tentatively reaches for one of her hands. She allows it to be pulled away from her cup, watching as he rubs his thumbs over her carpals, but refuses to look up at him.

"I'm sorry," she says, though it's barely a whisper. At first he thought he might have imagined it. But she turns her hand so her palm faces up and catches one of his. "About earlier."

"You're sorry?" He almost laughs. "Coco, you don't have to be sorry. It's okay."

No response. She simply continues to stare at his hand. She pulls away.

He sighs. "I get where you're coming from," he explains. "Trust me. I'm used to it. The ladies in Shantytown used to call me their  _sobrino_ , no matter how much younger they were." A smile creeps across his face. "Really, it's okay."

" . . . It's not fair, Papá."

The smile falls. "I know, _niña_."

"You were so  _young_. Barely older than Abel." She sighs as she gets to her feet. She pours the coffee into the sink. "You deserved a longer life."

He can't argue that. Instead he simply stands, gently turns her by the shoulder, and pulls her into a loose hug. She returns the gesture, tired though she is, and he can feel her fingers digging between his ribs. But he doesn't mind. He simply lowers his head, holding her ever closer, taking in the scent of vanilla and brown sugar and shoe polish that wafts up from her pink shawl. And of course he notices when her shoulders start to shake.

"Hey, c'mon," he whispers. He loosens his grip and bends down, cupping her cheeks with his hands. " _No llores, niñita_. It's okay."

"I missed you so much."

"I know, _corazón_. I missed you too. I thought about you every day, and every night, I'd sing our song at the time you used to go to sleep. But we're together now, okay? We don't have to be apart anymore."

She throws her arms around his neck and buries her face in his clavicle. "Don't leave," she breathes into him.

He holds her tightly once again. "Never," he promises. "I'll never leave you again."

**Author's Note:**

> eyyyyyy sorry the beginning fuckin sucks lmao it's like midnight


End file.
